


Uncommon Bond

by CobaltStargazer



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/F, Random Encounters, Tenderness, Unlikley Couple, mentions of sexual abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-23
Updated: 2014-07-23
Packaged: 2018-02-10 01:23:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2005632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CobaltStargazer/pseuds/CobaltStargazer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Faith's looking for a distraction before she moves on. But she gets more than she bargained for. And finds something that works for all the reasons that it shouldn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Uncommon Bond

**Author's Note:**

  * For [justanothersong](https://archiveofourown.org/users/justanothersong/gifts), [Poetic_Fangs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poetic_Fangs/gifts).



> I wanted to see if I could make this happen, and I'm pretty satisfied with it.

Faith was working on her fourth beer and looking for a quick hook-up, something to kill time until she left the next morning. She was on her way to Sunnydale, but the crowd in the club made for ripe pickings for a night's worth of fun. Or at least a distraction.

The Slayer surveyed and dismissed close to a dozen people, looking for a likely candidate. Then she saw the blonde hovering near the wall, a plastic cup in her hand. Probably water. She looked too young to be in here. Too innocent. 

Faith nodded to herself. Blondie wouldn't know what hit her.

Tara had sniffed the contents of the cup three times before taking a sip. She'd never drunk anything stronger than coffee, and she'd heard horror stories of people putting things in unattended cups. It always paid to be careful. Her mother had told her so. She'd have to get back before her father knew she was gone, before Donnie could discover that she wasn't at home. 

She felt someone approaching her, and she looked down into the clear contents of her drink. When your first instinct was to look down or away, to avoid conversation, eye contact wasn't the first item on your list. Dark hair. About the same height. Shirt unbuttoned, exposing some of her cleavage. Yes, Tara had looked. When the other girl was within arm's reach, she lifted her gaze.

 _Whoa_. So blue.

Faith was nearly brought up short by the direct look, having been lured in by the initial avoidance. Rather than let herself reassess the situation, she finished her approach. She'd done this before, too many times to think she couldn't do it now.

"Hey. You alone?"

The blonde smiled warily, looked over the other girl's shoulder. No one was trailing after her, which meant she was probably alone. Probably. There was always the possibility that she'd lost a bet and had to come over here. That her friends were having a big laugh about it. Tara held her ground. 

"Yes, I'm alone."

Her voice was so low that only Slayer hearing could pick it out over the music, and Faith inched closer. Quiet little thing, wasn't she? But those _eyes_... She'd finished her last beer and left the bottle behind. One thumb hooked trough her belt loop, and she jutted her hip out. This was going to be easy. A girl like this had never seen anything like her.

"Wanna dance with me?"

And Tara couldn't prevent the smile, though she tried to rope it in. She knew that her social awkwardness often translated to being physically clumsy, but she _did_ like to dance. And now that she was looking at the brunette's eyes, she couldn't detect any cruelty in them. A wariness, yes, but no viciousness. If anything, she looked a little lost.

"My name's Tara," she told the girl in the leather pants. "And yeah, I would like to dance with you." 

"I'm Faith." 

The music was slow and bass-heavy, like a heartbeat, and the blonde was surprised by the other girl's strength once they were actually out on the floor. She was soft, not a sharp angle in sight, but her arms were powerful. Tara could almost feel the calluses on her hands through the thin fabric of her T shirt. "Do you do construction or something?" she joked softly, having to speak directly into Faith's ear so she'd be heard. 

"More like I'm in demolitions." 

The breath against her earlobe tickled, and the Slayer realized that Tara was graceful, that the surface gawkiness was just that, surface. She wasn't _quite_ as willing to bump and grind, but her hands were on the small of the brunette's back. Up close, those blue eyes were even bluer. 

_Don't think about that. You're moving on tomorrow. To meet the legend and get protection. You don't have time to linger._

Her mouth brushed against a spot close to the blonde's ear as the song changed, and Tara's fingers tightened against the base of her spine. She became less pliant in Faith's arms, and the Slayer pressed an uncharacteristically soft kiss to her collarbone. She smelled like soap and clean skin. 

"I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise." 

__That was what Donnie said, too. At least before he got started. After he was through, he usually just left her room and shut the door behind him. Tara pulled back, looked into Faith's dark eyes. It wasn't supposed to feel _good_ , was it? She'd done this before, and that was why she was here, but no one had ever said they'd be gentle with her. Certainly not someone who was probably capable of breaking her in half if they wanted to. __

Faith had stopped because she had the crawling suspicion she knew what the tension meant. She was a lot of things - impulsive, brash, reckless - but she knew a fellow survivor when she saw one. Her own damage aside, she was perfectly capable of speaking gently, of being almost courtly. One weapon-worn hand touched the blonde's cheek. "You've got nothing to be scared of from me." 

The blonde put her chin on Faith's shoulder. She wanted to trust. That hadn't been beaten out of her yet. One wrong move and she'd probably flee, but she'd seen a flash of something almost like recognition in Faith's eyes. And that was _way_ too uncomfortable for her to dwell on, so she went back to dancing. 

The floor became more crowded as it got later, and eventually Tara said, "I think I need some air. It's getting hot in here." Her shirt was plastered to her back by perspiration, and the closeness of other bodies made her feel a little claustrophobic. "Can we get back in if we leave?" 

"I think so." 

Faith wasn't sure she wanted to come back if they left. She'd rented a room in a motel a couple of blocks from the club, and while the room was crappy she was thinking of asking Tara to join her there. She was realizing that _she_ was the one who kind of didn't know what had hit her, but it felt right in a way she couldn't identify. If the blonde declined, she could live with that, but she wanted to see if she could 'Want, Take, Have' just for tonight. 

There was a breeze outside, and the two of them looked at each other under the glow of a streetlamp."You want to walk with me?" Faith finally ventured. "I have a place, sort of. It's shitty, but, uh..." She slapped her pockets, wishing she'd thought to buy some smokes earlier. "If you don't want to, that's okay, but...y'know..." 

This was a dream. Girls like this didn't pay attention to her. Not overtly. Faith was looking down at the sidewalk, not nearly as confident as she had been when she'd asked her to dance. How much of the Tough Girl was an act? "My face is up here," Tara said softly, surprising herself. Brown eyes met blue ones, and the young witch smiled bashfully. _Please don't laugh_. 

The timid hope in the smile made Faith feel like she was looking into a mirror, and she offered Tara her arm, a knight errant in thrift-store armor. "C'mon," she said, and it was almost a mutter. _You're not good enough. You're never going to be good enough. Tomorrow you'll be gone, and she'll be better off without you. Just like your mom said._

The walk was made in silence, and the key stuck in the door when Faith unlocked it. Tara looked around, and the brunette was right, it _was_ a shitty room. She wondered how long the other girl had been on her own. She'd always wondered what freedom would be like. 

"Guess you don't get many visitors." 

"I'm leaving town tomorrow, actually. I need to find somebody." 

The Slayer had seated herself on the rumpled bed, and she patted the spot next to her a little uncertainly. When Tara took up space next to her, she kissed the blonde hesitantly. Just a brush of lips against lips. 

"I'm not pretty enough." 

"You're lovely." 

Faith had never said the word 'lovely' in her life, but it fit. The second kiss lingered a few seconds longer. 

Tara was unprepared for the gentleness, despite the brunette's assurance from earlier. She was equally unprepared for the rush of desire she felt. Kissing wasn't something she was accustomed to, but Faith's mouth was warm and soft. She touched the other girl's cheek. 

"Don't hurt me." She'd said that to Donnie once, and he'd laughed at her before doing what he'd been going to do anyway. Faith's mouth had migrated to the side of her neck, and the wiccan felt her shake her head. 

"No. Won't. _Wouldn't._ " The Slayer didn't know where the care was coming from, since her usual habit was to fuck and run, but it would have been like kicking out a stained glass window to use Tara. Fingers were tangling into her hair as the kisses got more heated, and it was going from sweet to hot as the clothes began to come off. The process was slow, unhurried, almost delicate. Tara tried to cover herself, but Faith gently took her hands away. 

"You've got the prettiest breasts." 

A warm mouth started to pay homage to the blonde's cleavage, and she squirmed even as she flushed with shame. She wasn't supposed to like this. Faith's hair was soft and clean when she ran her fingers through it. "It feels...it feels good." 

"If it doesn't, that means I'm doin' it wrong." 

Faith was switching from one breast to another, and her right hand skimmed up Tara's flank before slipping over her stomach and then down. She didn't know how familiar the blonde was with other girls, but the way she was squirming said it might be new to her. The soft cry when she touched her clit semi-confirmed that. She was wet, and fingertips gently gathered moisture before spreading it over the delicate bud. 

" _Faith_..." 

"Hush, baby. Let me take care of you." 

Callused fingers began to play with the bundle of nerves, and Tara bucked upwards with a gasp. She _had_ done this before, but it was always hurried and rushed. But this new touch was careful, exploratory. Respectful. Faith was watching her, having propped herself up on her other arm. The flush was spreading to her neck and chest. She couldn't find a rhythm she liked. No one had ever let her find one. 

The Slayer strongly suspected that this was not who she really was, that the gentleness she was displaying was a put-on for the blonde's benefit, but the wonder she saw in Tara's face almost brought tears to her eyes. Their mouths met, and it was urgent but not rough. It wasn't the first time Faith had picked up a random stranger, but it _was_ the first time in a while that she hadn't rushed through it. She didn't know if it was an illusion or not, but for the moment, she felt good enough. 

When Tara came, it seemed to suck all of the oxygen out of the room. Possibly even out of the world. She bucked into Faith's touch, her spine arching, and she babbled the brunette's name as the pleasure surged and crested. When she finally subsided, she was boneless. 

Faith leaned down and kissed the other girl's forehead, and her usual routine was to get her one-offs out as soon as she could so that she could shower and sleep. Bitter experience had taught her that if you let people get close to you, they'd find a way to hurt you. The only one who hadn't hurt her recently was dead now, butchered by monster. That was why she was fleeing to Sunnydale. There was no place in her life for a Tara. 

And yet... 

The blonde opened her eyes after a few minutes, and the person Faith might have been under better circumstances - the person she wished she was but feared she wasn't - also opened one eye. They looked at each other for an eternal minute. The timid hope was back when a shaky hand cupped the Slayer's cheek. 

"Go to sleep, Tara." 

Faith's voice was gruff, and this was _crazy_ , because she was barely managing to look out for herself right now. But she'd been kicked so many times herself that she wasn't going to kick Tara, even metaphorically. She didn't have to be an asshole _every_ minute of her life. They could part ways in the morning. If nothing else, the blonde brightened up this shitty room and made it livable. And that was good enough. 

"Thank you, Faith." 

It was a whisper, and when Faith lay down next to Tara the wiccan hesitantly turned towards her. Cuddling was just as alien to her as prolonged physical pleasure. They didn't hug in her house, not since her mother had died. After a minute, one of those soft-but-strong arms went around her, and the blonde closed her eyes. 

To hopefully sleep, and have good dreams. 


End file.
